When Life is Running Out
by crayolalover
Summary: A doctor appointment about a cough had turned into something else. What will Brennan do when time is against her? With Angela and Booth moving in to help her, what's going to happen? BB for later chapters. CHAPTER 11 IS UP! Updated on April 9
1. Chapter 1

**Title: When Life is Running Out**

**Summary: She thought it was just a cough, but when Brennan went to the doctor, it turned out to be something else, something much more serious. What will Brennan do when life is running against her? With Angela and Booth moved in to live with her when they realized what was going on, what will happen then? Will Brennan and Booth finally get together because of this? BB for later chapters. **

**Genre: Tragedy/ Romance/ Angst/ General **

**Be warned about the tragedy part, this is going to be a very sad story, so please be aware of it, and you really can expect the worst. But sometimes, tragedy story does bring out a good romance story, don't you think?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or the lyrics of To Live Like You Were Dying.**

**Author's Note: I just want to thanks those who reviewed Chapter 13 of Wedding, and all of those who added the story to favourites or alerts. The chance of writing a squeal about that is not high at all, sorry about that. Now, enjoy this chapter. And another author note is below.**

**This chapter is replaced.**

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**Chapter 1**

"Can you believe it's already 12 in the afternoon? Weather right now is about 80 F, pretty hot, don't you think? Luckily, it's such a beautiful day!" The radio announced.

Brennan was driving back to Jeffersonian. She looked out of the window. _It sure is a beautiful day_, she thought to herself. But she wasn't in any mood of enjoying it at all.

"Now, Tim McGraw's To Live Like You Were Dying." The radio announced.

_He said I was in my early forties _

_with a lot of life before me _

_when a moment came that stopped me on a dime _

_and I spent most of the next days _

_looking at the x-rays _

_Talking bout the options  
and talking bout sweet time  
I asked him when it sank in  
that this might really be the real end  
how's it hit you when you get that kinda news  
man what?d you do _

_  
and he said  
I went sky diving  
I went Rocky Mountain climbing  
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu  
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter  
and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying  
and he said someday I hope you get the chance  
to live like you were dying. _

_  
He said I was finally the husband  
that most the time I wasn't  
and I became a friend a friend would like to have  
and all the sudden going fishin  
wasn't such an imposition  
and I went three times that year I lost my dad  
well I finally read the good book  
and I took a good long hard look  
at what I'd do if I could do it all again _

_  
and then  
I went sky diving  
I went Rocky Mountain climbing  
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu  
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter  
and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying  
and he said someday I hope you get the chance _

_to live like you were dying. _

_  
Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about  
what'd you do with it what did you do with it  
what did I do with it  
what would I do with it? _

_  
Sky diving _

_I went Rocky Mountain climbing  
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named FuManchu  
and then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter  
and I watched an eagle as it was flying _

_and he said someday I hope you get the chance  
to live like you were dying.  
To live like you were dying  
To live like you were dying  
To live like you were dying  
To live like you were dying_

Brennan sighed at these lyrics as the song went on. She had lost count on how many times she sighed today; she could swear that she never sighed this much before. She never had been this troubled before. She could always found a solution to her troubles. She could always solve it; she would do whatever it takes to find the solution. But this time, she couldn't. There's no solution waiting for her.

Her mind drifted back to the doctor appointment earlier that morning.

_It's been about a month that she got the cough, and the drugs weren't working at all, she finally decided to see the doctor. The doctor used the stethoscope to listen to her lungs, and was a bit concerned. So he decided to give Brennan an X-ray, just to make sure everything was fine. _

_But it wasn't. _

_For about an hour she sat there, waiting for the results to come back. She was bored, just sitting there, doing nothing. But she did thought about a new plot for her novel, and also thinking about the case she and Booth were currently working on. She never thought those boring moments would be the last moment that she would ever feel like herself again. _

_The doctor invited her back to his office, and told her that they found…_

"_Ms. Brennan, you have small lung cell cancer." The doctor told her as soon as she sat down. _

_Only one short sentence had crushed Temperance Brennan. Brennan closed her eyes, trying hard to fight back the threatening tears from coming out of her eyes. All she could think of at that moment was death, nothing else. Everything that seemed to have bothered her moments ago was gone. The world seemed to have disappeared in front of her eyes; all she could see was the doctor's office. _

"_How long do I have?" _

_The doctor looked at her grimly, "It's pretty advance, I would say about a year. I already transferred your case to an oncologist. She should be here about now." _

_A slight knock came, and a young female doctor came in. She gave a small nod to the older doctor, and turned to Brennan, introduced herself, "Ms. Brennan, I'm Doctor Armstrong from oncology department. I'm sorry to tell you that you have cancer. But we need to act quickly._

"_Small lung cell cancer is one of the most deadly cancer among lung caner. It moves fast, and even if you discover early, the chances of surviving over 5 years are really small." _

_Dr. Armstrong put up the X-ray to let Brennan see how bad it was. Everything was not as clear as it should be. It was cloudy. Brennan felt even worse than before; she wished that the doctor didn't show it to her._

"_I would like to start the treatment as soon as possible." Dr. Armstrong concluded. _

"_What kind of treatment?" Brennan asked in a low voice that even she couldn't realize it was her own. _

"_Surgery cannot be preformed in most of the small lung cell cancer, so this would be out of the question. I don't want you to do radiation; the cancer is too advanced for it right now. But I would suggest chemotherapy." The doctor answered smoothly, but her eyes were shown with sympathy. _

"_I'm sorry." Dr. Armstrong said again. _

_As the doctor continued to talk about their next appointment and the instruction on those medicines, tears were falling down from Brennan's eyes. _

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**First, I am not a medical expert, so you can probably assume that everything that I write in this story that is about medical is not true. Please don't hold me responsible for it. Second, I had been rewriting this chapter over and over again, so I didn't have the time to get a beta to check it before I upload this, so you can yell at me about all those grammatical mistakes I made. I promise you that I will get a beta to check it for me for the next chapter. Sorry about this long author's note. One more thing though, please REVIEW! Please? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: I want to thank Ataea for beta-ing the story for me, so, yes, I found a beta finally. I would also like to thank those who wrote a review, and I'm truly sorry if this story made you feel uncomfortable. Now, enjoy the story!

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Chapter 2 **

Brennan grimly made her way back to her office, trying to act like nothing happened. She didn't want any of her colleagues to know about the cancer. _They don't need to, at least, not right now_, she told herself silently. But the first challenge came up. Angela was walking towards her.

"Hey Bren, where were you this morning?" Angela asked, a bit concerned. Her best friend was never late for work, and on the miniscule chance she was, she usually had a pretty good reason.

"I just went to the doctor." Brennan replied shortly. She had to tell all of them that she went to the doctor, that being the excuse she used this morning when she talked to Dr. Goodman.

"What did the doctor say?"

"She said I'm fine." Brennan noted distractedly that her voice sounded strange to her own ears.

"Are you sure?" Angela asked again, looking at her best friend. She could feel that Brennan was hiding something from her. The forensic anthropologist looked really pale, and her eyes were full of sadness. "Sweetie, if you're sick, I think you should go home."

Brennan jerked up, "Ange, I'm not sick. Plus, I can't go home. I still have to finish the case!"

"Speaking of the case, Booth just called. He said that they found the suspect, and wanted to know if you wanted to go with him to get the guy."

Brennan nodded, "I'll call him as soon as I can."

"Sweetie, you do look sick, are you sure- " Brennan interrupted Angela.

"I'm fine." Brennan snapped. She walked out of the office, planning to call Booth, leaving Angela confused.

_Did Brennan just snap at me? Bren doesn't usually snap at people…something is definitely up. _

- - - - - - - -

As Booth pulled the SUV over in front of the crime scene, he turned to his partner. "Bones, I want you to stay behind me when I go in, alright?"

"Booth, I always stay behind you." Brennan replied. She was a bit irritated by the fact that Booth always reminded her. _What was she, a child?_

"Bones. Chill." Booth was surprised that Brennan sounded annoyed.

"Do I get a gun?" Brennan asked hopefully.

Booth pulled the extra gun out, "Here, this is only for self-defence. I don't want to charge you another felony."

"Booth, you only charged me with one felony the whole time I was working with you. Besides, that guy was trying to destroy evidence, and burn me alive. So, I do think it was for self-defence. You were wrong to charge me." Brennan pointed out.

Booth chose to ignore what Brennan just said. "Just stay behind me." Both of them walked out of the vehicle.

Booth went to the doorstep, and knocked the door. "Bill McDaniel? FBI! Open the door!" No answer came. Not a single thing. It was quiet inside the house. Too quiet that Booth disliked it. He knew that Bill McDaniel had to be inside the house, since his car was parted outside, and there was no back door for him to escape. They waited, but nothing happened. Booth decided to kick the door open.

"Mr. McDaniel? Mr. McDaniel?" He walked towards the living room, opened the door and saw Bill McDaniel. He was hanging there, on the ceiling.

"There's a letter beside him." Brennan said. She put on gloves, and opened the letter. Booth walked closer to Brennan to see what was the letter about.

_I do not regret of killing that bitch. The bitch was wasting all my hard earned money. I even feel sorry for myself that I actually fall in love with her._

Booth pulled out his cell phone and called for back up.

- - - - - - - - - -

It was late at night when Booth drove Brennan back to the lab. They stayed in McDaniel's house until the back-up came, and then went to the FBI headquarters to wait for the autopsy results to see whether it was ruled a suicide, or if outside interference should be suspected. Luckily for the duo, the autopsy confirmed their suspicions; McDaniel had killed himself.

Booth theorized endlessly as he drove towards the lab.

"It must be guilt that made him kill himself. I mean, what else? He killed the only woman he ever loved. He might be saying that he hated her for wasting money, but in the end, he knew he loved her. That's why he killed himself, to try and have some peace the first time in over 5 years."

Brennan, however, was being exceptionally quiet, sitting next to Booth, staring outside.

_DC sure is a beautiful place. And how long do I have to enjoy this view? How long? _Brennan asked herself quietly. _Less than a year left… what should I be doing? Is there anything that she wanted to do before time is up? _

Working all of her last days? Or quit her job and stay home? Go around the world? See and experience the things she never had the chance to? Or should she-

"Bones? Temperance!" Booth snapped his fingers right in front of Brennan. Brennan was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize she was already back in the museum.

"Bones, are you all right? You're really quiet today." Booth asked.

"I'm fine, Booth."

"Anyway, where were you this morning? Angela said you weren't in when I call you."

"I went to see the doctor." Brennan replied simply.

"About that cough? What did the doc say?"

"She said I'm fine." Brennan lied.

"Bones, you look sick. How about staying home tomorrow? The case is closed anyway." Booth suggested.

Brennan exploded. "I AM NOT SICK! What is it that people keep saying I'm sick? First Angela. Now you. I'm not sick! So stop saying it!"

Booth was surprised once again by Brennan's actions. "Bones. Calm down. Nobody is calling you sick, we're just concerned."

"Then stop it, I'm fine." Brennan snapped. She tried to get out of the SUV, but Booth locked the doors.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No." Brennan replied quickly. She needed to get out of the SUV, fast, before she yelled at him again.

"But something seems to be on your mind right now. Maybe I can help you if you tell me what's going on." Booth said. He'd been trying to figure out what was going on with Brennan all day.

"I don't need help," she replied sharply.

It hurt Booth to hear it. "Temperance, I'm your friend. You can tell me what is going on! I don't want to see you like this. You look like a complete mess. I was just trying to help."

"Then stop trying! I don't need the help! And if you don't want to see me like this, then…"

"Then what?"

"Then I don't think we should be partners anymore." Brennan said coolly.

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**Write a review? PLEASE? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: I want to thank my reviewers as usual, also Ataea for beta-ing the story for me. Now, enjoy the story! (Wow...that's such a short author's note, first time ever!)

* * *

Chapter 3 **

"What did you just say?" Booth asked incredulously.

"You know what I said." Brennan replied icily. "I said if you can't take this, then I don't think we should be partners anymore."

"Bones, I don't find that funny."

"I didn't intend to be funny." Bones said, still in that cold tone. "Can I go now?"

"Bones, you don't have to be all serious because of what I said. If I offended you, I apologize. But breaking off the partnership…don't you think you're overreacting?" Booth asked, still surprised at what his partner just told him.

"You can still send bodies in if you want me to do identification, that is, if the FBI Forensic Team can't handle it. But I'm not going to the fields with you anymore." Brennan told the FBI agent.

Booth was trying to find a reasonable reason for this situation." You already have it all planned out? Did someone make you do this? Goodman or Cullen?"

"Nobody told me what to do. I decided that it is for the best."

"But you love the field!" Booth cried.

Brennan tried for a better excuse. "I want to stay in the lab. Can you at least respect that? I thought you were the one who said squints belong in the lab, not the field. Besides, you were the one who didn't want us to be partners in the first place."

"But-"

Brennan unlocked the doors, and stepped out of the SUV. Booth immediately followed her out of the car.

"Bones!" He yelled after her. "Bones! Temperance!"

But Brennan didn't turn back to look at Booth. She couldn't look back. She couldn't let Booth to see her like this again, especially when tears were falling down from her cheeks again.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Dr. Brennan." Brennan was working diligently on the latest remaining from World War I in the platform.

"Zack, you got the report?" Brennan asked without looking up.

"Yes I did, Dr. Brennan." Zack handed the file over to Brennan.

"Thanks."

"Um…Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes Zack?"

"Where is Agent Booth? We haven't seen him for a while now." The assistant asked with curiosity. In truth, he hadn't seen Agent Booth in the lab for about a month now, nor had Booth called. He missed those male bonding times.

"I'm not working with Booth anymore." Brennan replied simply, trying to stay calm. Every time when somebody mentioned the name of Booth, her heart ached. She felt bad that she was the one to break off the partnership between them. She didn't want to let Booth know about her illness, she didn't want Booth to see her as the cancer worsen, she wanted Booth to remember as she used to be like. The old Temperance Brennan, always strong and independent, healthy and nothing could bother her. Not the new Temperance Brennan, weak, emotional and sick.

"Okay." Zack accepted the answer, without further questions.

- - - - - - - - -

"What's with Brennan?" Angela asked. She was standing besides Hodgins, looking up at Brennan, who was talking with Zack about their latest remaining.

"What do you mean?" Hodgins asked.

"We haven't seen Booth for a long time, don't you think that is weird?" Angela asked.

Hodgins shrugged. "Maybe they don't have a case."

"And Brennan being miserable all the time. I think she's hiding something from us." Angela continued, worried about her best friend. "She's always in the lab before any of us, and leave the last, sometimes, she just stayed overnight!"

"She's like that all the time. I don't see the difference." Hodgins pointed out.

"No, she's stayed in the lab the past four nights straight! She even comes to work on weekends! She never worked like this before."

"Maybe it's all part of a conspiracy. Maybe Booth and her are working on some case that's a government cover-up." Hodgins suggested.

Angela shook her head. "Not all things are conspiracy, Jack. You need a life outside conspiracy. But I can tell she's hiding something from us, and I want to know what it is."

"Ask her then."

"I did, already. But she always finds an excuse to avoid answering the question. Brennan isn't like this. It's not normal." Angela said worriedly.

"I'm sure she's fine." Hodgin's attempt at comfort failed miserably.

Angela sighed. "I'm really worried about her. And I hope to God that she's fine."

- - - - - - - -

"Okay, that's it! That's the last straw, Bren. You are going home!" Angela yelled on a Friday morning when she saw Brennan was in her office, sleeping on her couch again. Angela had enough of this.

"What?" Brennan asked, confused. She let out a yawn.

"See? You're tired. I bet you haven't had enough sleep for weeks!"

"I'm fine, Ange. I'm not tired, so I don't have to go home. Besides, I need to work on the case!"

Angela replied hotly. "The case can wait! The person's been dead for some time now, and I'm sure it will still be here when you come in on Monday! You are taking this day off! You are going home, stay there, relax for this whole weekend! I don't want to see you in the lab till Monday! And I'm taking your keys to your office, and your pass for clearance away from you to make sure of it." She ran towards to the table and took those things away from Brennan's lab coat.

"Angela!" Brennan exclaimed.

"I'm also telling security not to let you in when they see you this weekend. And don't think I'm bluffing, because I'm really going to do it!" Angela continued.

Brennan sat there silently, looking at Angela as she continued. She could feel the concern from her best friend, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Angela. She wanted to, she tried to. Every time when Angela cornered her, asked her what's going on, she always found some excuses to get out of there. She just couldn't tell her. She couldn't bring herself to the reality; she couldn't bring her best friend into her reality.

"Bren! Are you clear?" Angela bellowed.

Brennan sighed. Maybe she did work too much. Maybe she need a break from all of those, a time to deal with the cancer. "Fine, I'm going home." Brennan answered.

"I hope to see you all energetic again on Monday." Angela said, gave her best friend a smile before leaving the office.

_Except you probably won't see an energetic Temperance Brennan ever again._ Brennan thought sadly.

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**Write some reviews, please? I promise you something big is going to happen the next one or two chapters! Please? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: Want to thank Ataea for beta-ing this for me, and also my reviewers. I got lots of reviews this time, and I was really happy about it. I hope this chapter is not that boring, since almost all of it are on Brennan and Booth's thoughts. The big thing that will make the next chapter good is at the end, as I promised. Now, enjoy!

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Chapter 4 **

Brennan entered her apartment for the first time that week. She threw her bag on the table and laid there on her couch.

_Home, sweet home._ She told herself. Except it wasn't. Her home was not sweet, but empty and lonely.

Brennan could see an inch of dust on her furniture; not surprising, considering how long she hadn't cleaned her apartment. _Maybe I should clean the apartment sometime soon. _

_But what's the use? I'm just going to be dead soon._ The forensic anthropologist thought miserably. Before, she never understood why people believed they didn't deserve to die. She'd always seen it as part of the cycle of life and death. But now, she finally realized the truth.

She did some research on small lung cell cancer. Apparently, smokers had the biggest chance of getting it. But why her? She'd never smoked in her entire life! What did she do to deserve something like this!

Now that she's alone, she needed to face questions that she tried to ignore for a month. She kept herself occupied to keep her mind away from it. Maybe time will just solve it, she thought. But it didn't.

_Should I tell Angela about it?_ She can imagine how Angela would first freak out and then be sad the whole day. Angela would then probably try and mother her till she dies. Brennan understands that it's just how she cares, but can she take it? She doesn't know.

_Should I tell my colleagues about it?_ She knows she had to, but will this affect what people think of her? Will this affect how much work she gets? Will Hodgins and Zack still respect her? Will Goodman force her to quit?

_Should I tell Booth about it?_ If she said that she hadn't thought about Booth since the day she broke off her partnership with him, it'd be a lie. Somehow, those times working with Booth made Booth a part of her life. She isn't used to life without Booth, and it's only now that she finds out how much she needs Booth. But she can't bring herself to have contact with Booth anymore. Brennan has been asking herself why, but sadly, no answer came up.

Should I stop working and enjoy life? This is a hard question for her. Work is a part of her life. The job represents her. She couldn't imagine what will happen if she quit the job. The one thing that she could relate to is her work. Sometimes, she wonders about the meaning to her life? Just working? Her work has somehow become the motivation for her to live.

But working like this is not the answer. She knew that even though she was staying behind in the lab every night, she actually didn't have as much work done as she used to. Maybe it's because of the drugs, maybe it's because of her illness, maybe it's because she hasn't had a decent night of sleep since that appointment, but she always felt tired. She could fall asleep easily nowadays, even when she was in the middle of an examination. But almost every morning when she woke up, her lab coat was always laid carefully on top of her. She knew she didn't put it there, so, who was it?

Brennan sighed again. She's truly lost.

- - - - - - - - - -

Booth stopped his SUV in front of Brennan's apartment.

This is it, Seeley. You either start the engine again, and find another excuse for not talking to Bones. Or you can get your ass up there, and face Bones, to see what exactly happened to make her not want to work with you anymore. It's been a month.

Booth closed his eyes. This month without Brennan working together was weird. It didn't feel like working at all. He missed Brennan, and the squints, and the lab. Who could have thought that the Special Agent Seeley Booth would actually miss the squints? Every day seemed to be passing slowly; it was like God wanted to punish him for something he did.

He did try to find Brennan. Almost every night he stopped at the lab, tried to talk to Brennan. But every time, he found Brennan fast asleep.

Booth opened his eyes, started to go upstairs.

_I just need an explanation, that's all._ Booth told himself.

2B.

Brennan's door. Booth lost count of how many times he'd been to Brennan's apartment, but this time, he felt uneasy, something that he couldn't explain. He knew Brennan was in her apartment, since he stopped by the lab, and security had told him that she went home. He started knocking.

And knocked.

And knocked.

The reply never came. The door wasn't opened either. Booth looked uneasy at the closed door. What was going on? He leaned over to the door, listened. He could hear music inside; Brennan was obviously home.

He knocked again, calling, "Bones? You there? It's Booth! Open up!"

The door was still closed.

After about 15 minutes of knocking, he decided to give up.

Maybe she went out to get something and forgot to turn the music off, Booth thought. _I'll try and find her another time. _He tried to leave, but he couldn't move, and he just stood there.

Booth sighed, knowing that he couldn't focus till he talked to Brennan. He knelt down, and turned the carpet over. Under the carpet was a small key, the spare key to Brennan's apartment. He took it out and opened the door.

It was dimly lit inside Brennan's apartment. He could hear some Tibet Throat singer's song. _How could Bones possibly like that kind of music?_ The apartment was pretty much the same as last time, except the place was getting much more dusty than usual. He glanced around, trying to see Brennan. There was still no sight of her, so he finally called out, "Bones? It's Booth! I let myself in. Are you here?"

No reply came. Where was she? She had to be in the apartment since her purse and car keys and everything was on acounter near the door. He decided to walk inside the bedroom to see if she's there, but she wasn't. Bathroom maybe?

The bathroom door was ajar. Booth pushed it opened, found…

"BONES!"

Brennan was lying there on the floor, unconscious.

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**The next time I update is when I am finally done with the House story called Back. It only has about 1 or 2 chapters left. I don't want to delay that story anymore, so I decided that if I don't finish it, I am not updating this. Sorry about the inconvience. But more reviews may just change my mind...(though I highly doubt it, but it's worth a try, isn't it?) **

**Review, please? Please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but I'm happy to tell you that I'm down the House story, so yay. Thank you so much for the reviews and my beta Ataea, and I do apologize for the inconvince again. As usual, I'm not good with medical stuff, so what I wrote below is probably wrong. For those of you that want to know, I'm working on Chapter 6. Now, enjoy!**

**

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**Chapter 5**

_Emergency Room…emergency room, where the hell is it?_ Angela had just entered the hospital. _1st floor, gotcha!_ She walked as fast as she could, trying to calm herself down at the same time. _She's alive, that's all that matters. But shouldn't I, as her best friend have noticed something wrong about her? Shouldn't I?_

Left turn. _Come on! Hurry up! How come it's so hard to get to the freaking Emergency Room?_

"ANGELA!" A familiar voice yelled behind her. She turned, and found Booth standing near the door.

"Booth!" She walked toward him. "How is she? I came as fast as I could when I got your call."

"I don't know, Angela." Booth's answer did not calm her down as she hoped it would.

Angela took a deep breath. "How long had she been in there?"

"About 30 minutes."

"Oh God..."

"Angela, Bones is going to be alright." Booth said. The statement couldn't even convince Booth himself.

Angela argued back. "I should have noticed something! I'm her best friend!"

"Don't blame this on yourself. You don't even know what's wrong yet."

"Bren worked really late ever night! And she seemed tired every day! I'm her friend, and she just wouldn't listen to me. I should be more harsh on her; I should've made her go home or something."

"I know she works late every night. I just thought it was because of some busy cases."

"No, Booth. She had been trying to clean out our whole storage of John and Jane Does! And…wait a minute, how do you know she works late every night?" Angela asked curiously.

"I've been visiting her almost every night, trying to find out why she wanted to break off the partnership with me." Booth admitted. "But she's always asleep when I get to the lab."

"You're the one…" At this exact moment, the door of ER opened, a doctor walked out, asking, "Where's Temperance Brennan's family?"

"Here!" Booth and Angela rushed to the doctor's side.

"You two are Dr. Brennan's family?" The doctor asked again.

Angela opened her mouth, "We're her friends. How's she?"

"I cannot reveal any information unless you're family members." The doctor replied sternly.

Booth tried to give the doctor his charm smile, and said smoothly, "Well, Bones…I mean, Brennan's parents disappeared when she was young. Her brother is currently not in contact. So, we're pretty much her family."

The doctor looked at Booth and Angela for a while before continuing.

"Dr. Brennan fainted mainly because of her lack of rest. I guess it's also because of all the pressures she faced during the past month, in reference her medical record. Nothing big happened during the fall, not even a concussion. However, I will be keeping her overnight, just in case. I had also left a note for Dr. Armstrong, who will do another check-up with Dr. Brennan when they have her next appointment. When she get out of the hospital, it's my medical opinion that she stay in bed for rest for a few days, or at least be fully-rested before she goes back to work." The doctor concluded.

"Dr. Armstrong?" Booth asked, curious about it. "What appointment?"

"Dr. Armstrong is an oncologist in our hospital, I believe she will check if this fall is actually medical relevant in their next appointment, which I believe is next week." The doctor explained.

"Oncologist?" Angela asked. "Isn't it those doctor who treat…cancer?"

The doctor nodded. "She's now awake. We have moved her to Room 213, you can go and visit her, but please remember that she need to rest…"

What the doctor had continued saying, both of them couldn't hear it anymore. Booth could feel himself sliding down from the wall, the whole world just crashed down before him. Angela's tears were falling down from her face.

- - - - - - - - - -

Brennan was staring at the top of the ceiling, bored out of her mind. For some reason, she just hated being in the hospital. She's perfectly well and should be able to check out of the hospital, but the ER doctor insisted on keeping her overnight. She could feel herself worn over the events just happened, but she didn't feel like sleeping at all. All she wanted right at that moment was to get the hell out of the hospital. She wanted to work.

The door slide opened, causing Brennan to turn to look who's there. It was Angela. Behind her was Booth.

Her best friend rushed to Brennan's side. "Sweetie, how're you feeling now?"

"I'm good." Brennan lied, faking a weak smile.

Angela gave Brennan a hug, continued, "You scared the crap out of me, Brennan. Don't you do that to me ever again."

"I'll try my best." Brennan replied, trying to give another smile, but she failed miserably. "So, how did you find me?" Brennan asked, trying to change the topic; at the same time, curious about how she got into the hospital. She didn't remember that she called 911 before she fainted.

"Booth went to your apartment and found you on the floor. He called 911 to get you here." Angela explained patiently to her best friend.

Brennan looked at Booth, who was standing at the back of the room. "Thanks Booth."

In return, Booth gave her a nod.

"Ange, can you get me out of the hospital? I want to go home and get back to work." Brennan asked.

Angela shook her head, "Bren, are you out of your mind? The doctor said he's keeping you here overnight, so you're going to stay overnight until he releases you! Even when you get back, the doctor said you are having bed rest till you feel better, meaning you fully-charged before you go back to work!"

"I feel better now. So can I go?" Brennan asked again, trying her luck. But she knew her chances were not big.

"NO! Brennan, for God's Sake! Have you not just heard a word of what I said? The doctor said no! Even if you're fine with this case, you're not fine!" Angela yelled.

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked quickly, hoping Angela's not talking about the thing that was in her mind.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this! I mean, I'm your friend! And you kept this away from me! What do you think I'll do if I found out you got cancer? Huh? That I will just stop being your best friend?" Angela exploded in front of her best friend.

Brennan didn't answer. She found that she was incapable of speaking at the moment.

"Bren, I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always be there for you! I know you don't like to get pitied, but telling people about your illness isn't a sign of weakness." Angela continued. "I'm sure you're having treatment, right?"

Brennan looked at her best friend sadly, finally able to regain the function of speaking, "Angela, I got small cell lung cancer. The treatment's not working, and I only have about 9 months left."

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**Please don't forget to review! I am really looking forward to hear what you guys think about this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones**

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews and also Ataea for beta-ing this. Something big is going to happen next chapter, throwing Brennan off course pretty bad there, but lots of you are going to love it, I bet. Now, enjoy.

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Chapter 6 **

When Brennan finished explaining her situation to Angela and Booth, both of them were in absolutely silent. Brennan looked at her best friend, tears falling down from her cheeks. Booth, on the other hand, remained stone-faced, his brown eyes filled with tremendous sadness.

No one spoke a single word; no one could find any appropriate words for this situation. The silence remained until a nurse entered the room to check on Brennan's vitals.

"Well, I think it's too late for any visitors now," The nurse said sternly. "I want all of you out, Dr. Brennan needs her rest."

"I'm fine." Brennan protested, but the nurse didn't give in.

"Of course you're fine. Now, both of you, OUT!" The nurse yelled, starting to lose her temper.

"I want them to stay!" Brennan yelled back, like a five year-old trying to beg her parents to get something she wanted.

The nurse bite her lips, finally said, "Fine, but only one of them can stay. I don't want to get yelled at by the doctor when he checks on you tomorrow. So, he or she had to be out by 6 am tomorrow. You got me?"

Brennan nodded, and the nurse exited.

"I'll go," Booth volunteered, starting to move towards the door. "Angela, you can stay with Bones. I'll come back tomorrow or later to see how she's doing."

"No," Angela shook her head, "I'm not staying. Booth, you stay. You came here with the ambulance. I'm the one with car. How about I come by tomorrow to pick both of you up? So, Brennan can go home, and Booth can get to his car."

Angela then bolted out of the door before either of them could protest, leaving Brennan and Booth behind.

It wasn't that Angela didn't want to stay with her best friend, she told herself, it was just too much for her to handle right now. She knew that she would think about death and cancer every time she looked at Brennan from now on.

- - - - - - - - - -

Both Brennan and Booth were stunned by Angela's suggestion. Booth moved to the chair, positioned beside Brennan's bed. He sat down, looking at Brennan, who was still staring at the door, hoping Angela would come back.

"She's going to be back tomorrow morning. She just needs a little bit of time to digest all of this." Booth said suddenly.

Brennan gave him a nod. "I just don't get why she left. I didn't imagine I would tell her about everything like this."

"I don't blame her for leaving."

Brennan's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Bones, she's your best friend! And you didn't even tell her about this! Frankly, I'm really disappointed in you, Temperance. What were you thinking? Hiding this from her?" _And me too,_ Booth added in his mind.

Brennan kept her mouth shut, feeling guilty as Booth continued.

"When were you planning to tell Angela?"

Brennan replied without looking at Booth. "I didn't know what to do, Booth. I wanted to tell her, but a part of me didn't want to. I was lost. What did you expect me to do?"

"Just tell her the truth. She's your best friend, she'd understand."

"I knew she would, but…I don't want any sympathy. The one thing I don't need is sympathy from other people. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Letting your best friend know doesn't mean you're weak, Temperance." Booth said, trying to stop himself from yelling at Brennan, "It means that you can have someone to share your burden with."

"Do you think she'll forgive me?" Brennan asked quietly.

"Of course she will. All she needs is just a little time to adjust to it. She'll be fine tomorrow morning when she comes and picks us up."

Brennan nodded.

"Bones, I want to ask you something. Why exactly did you break off the partnership?" Booth asked boldly.

Brennan thought for a while before answering the question, "I…I wanted to stay in the lab."

"Bones, you know that's not true. It's just like in Angela's case. You didn't want me to know about it. Why didn't you want me to know about it? I'm your friend, and your partner!" Booth cried.

"Booth, you may think it's stupid; but I beg to differ." Brennan replied.

The agent closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down before continuing. "You know what? What happened before doesn't matter now. At least, not to me. Not anymore. What I want to know now is if you still want to work in the field with me."

Brennan shook her head, "Sorry Booth, I'm afraid not." She tried to give a smile, but once again, she failed.

"It's okay, I guess." The agent replied, though his facial features said another thing.

"It's not that I don't want to work with you, Booth." Brennan explained, "It's just I think I had enough of the field. I just want to have some quiet time in the lab till the end."

"I understand." Booth said quietly. "But if you ever change your mind, tell me."

Brennan nodded. "And Booth?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for bringing me to the hospital."

"Sure, what am I suppose to do? Leave you there?"

"You could have." Brennan pointed out, as if that what everybody would do.

"Bones, you're my friend and partner. I would never leave you there. Now, go to bed before the nurse comes and kick me out."

"I'm not…" Brennan started to point it out, but Booth interrupted her.

"Not working with me in the field doesn't mean that you're not my partner anymore." Booth said quickly. "Now, go to bed, I can hear the nurse footsteps from here."

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**What do you think of this? Hope you guys enjoyed it, and now, just please press that little button said "submit a review" and write a review, so I can know what you think of it...all right? Thanks! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: As usual, thanks for all the reviews and Ataea beta-ing this for me. This chapter is going to be a big surprise to all of you, at least, that's what I hoped for. Now, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 7 **

Booth didn't get kicked out that night; the nurse just yelled at him again. Luckily for Booth, he was able to charm his way out of trouble, so the nurse let him stay. Brennan slept restlessly in the hospital bed, while Booth was snoring slightly in his seat.

Angela, as promised, did come to get Brennan and Booth home that morning. She apologized to Brennan for going away so suddenly yesterday, while Brennan apologized to her best friend for not telling her about the cancer. After a long process of checking out of the hospital (including how Brennan got into an argument with the nurse about wheeling her out to the main entrance of the hospital, in which, after about 10 minutes, Angela gave up and barked choices to Brennan, which Choice A was to get in the wheelchair, and stop causing any trouble; while Choice B was to stay in the hospital for one more day. Without anything ideal to choose from, Brennan reluctantly took Choice A), and another series of tests, conducted by Dr. Armstrong, Brennan's oncologist, the three of them finally left the hospital, with Angela driving, Booth sitting next to her and Brennan sitting at the back of the car.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Sweetie, where's your car keys?" Angela asked when she closed the door. Brennan collapsed into her couch, and Booth remained standing near the bookshelves.

"In my purse, why?" Brennan asked curiously, while Angela opened Brennan's purse and retrieved the item.

Angela replied simply. "I'm banning you from driving."

"What?" Brennan asked, surprised at her best friend's action. Booth, on the other hand, dropped his jaw. _What's going on with Angela now?_ He thought.

"Brennan, I'm staying with here with you, helping you." Angela explained. "As your best friend, I feel it necessary to do so under the circumstances. I've thought this out thoroughly last night and nothing you say is going to change my mind about it."

"Angela, I don't need a baby sitter. I'm fully capable of taking care of myself." Brennan argued, hoping her best friend to change her mind.

But Angela was not giving up. "I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. But what if this happens again? And no one found out till much later? I don't want it to, so that's why I'm staying with you."

"You know my apartment's not big enough for the both of us. Where are you going to sleep?"

Angela pointed out. "You have a guest room, I'll just stay there."

"This is ridiculous!" Brennan stepped up and walked towards Angela. "Ange, I know you're worried about me, but that was just a one-time accident. It will not happen again. You don't need to be overprotective like Booth."

"Hey!" Booth said, but it was ignored.

"You don't know that, Brennan. If no one is looking after you, you'll just work like before, and ended up in the hospital again. I'm not letting it happen. Call me overprotective, but I would rather do this than letting you faint again!" Angela said bluntly. "Have you ever thought about what would've happened if Booth never came last night? If you weren't found till Monday or later on?"

"Even if Booth didn't come last night, even if no one noticed me fainting, I might've just turned out to be fine, I might've just woken up." Brennan argued stubbornly.

Angela threw an unbelievable look at Brennan, who answered this as a reasonable fact.

"Actually, I think Angela's right." Booth said suddenly, but very quiet. Angela threw him an appreciate look, while Brennan was staring at him. _If looks could kill…_

"See, Bren? Even Booth thinks I have a point."

"I want to help." Booth continued. "If Angela won't mind about it, I can stay here with you guys too. Or I can stay for a week then Angela stay for a week, like a schedule."

"WHAT?" Brennan exploded. There's no way they can decide something like this important without consulting her…wait, no, ignoring her is even worse.

"I think that's great, Booth. Thanks for the offer. I think the second option might just work. How about I start off this week, and you can do the next one? It'll just involve driving Brennan to work and home, plus not letting her work too late or during weekends." Angela told her plan to Booth.

As Booth and Angela kept talking and planning, Brennan kept protesting. No way was she going down without a fight. Unfortunately for Brennan, all her complaints were ignored.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Angela, you don't need to stay over at all! I'm fine, and I can take care of myself!" Brennan said during that evening while they were having dinner. Angela made pasta for both of them.

Angela sighed, knowing that Brennan would never give up till she moved out, but that's one thing she's not going to do. She couldn't just leave her best friend. "Bren, I told you, I'm staying. I know you're mad about this, but it's for the best."

"What's for the best?" Brennan questioned. "This is irrational of you, doing this. I know you're worried about me fainting again, but as I had told you earlier, that was just a one-time accident. It's not going to happen again. Plus, I just can't figure out why you're banning me from driving! What's the point?"

"In case you faint suddenly when you drive. I don't want to see you in a car accident." Her best friend explained, trying to be patient. But the patience was slipping away fast.

"You can just call and check up on me instead of staying."

Angela wondered would her best friend just give up asking. She had already expected all of these questions when she made the decision last night, but she never thought Brennan would be this stubborn. "Brennan, I told you. I'm your best friend, and I want to help you."

"You could just help me in other ways." Brennan suggested, jabbing her pasta with the fork.

"Brennan. I…I don't know what to do! I'm afraid! I just can't believe that you didn't tell me about the cancer! I'm your best friend!" Angela cried loudly. "I want to do something for you! Something to help you! But I feel useless because I don't know what to do! And this is the best thing that I came up with!

Brennan watched her friend in silence; she didn't know what to say. Seeing her best friend like this, it made her heart ache. She blamed herself for not telling her best friend sooner. _If I did, it wouldn't turn out like this…_

"I know that you don't like people helping you; I know it makes you think that it's a sign of weakness. But it's not! So, dammit Bren, just let me help you, just this time, please. Just let me help you, just do this for me, please." Angela finished hoarsely.

Brennan looked at Angela, whose tears were running down from her checks. Brennan felt her heart full of guilt and she did the only thing she could at that moment. She nodded slightly.

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**What do you think? Tell me in a review? Please? I really want to see some reviews from you guys, so please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I really do apologize for the inconvenience about it. I thanks for those who waited patiently for this chapter, and also azarathangel for beta-ing this for me. Next chapter is going to be up in the next few days. And that will be the last update before I leave for travelling. When I get back, I need to help my family to move to a new house, meaning I don't know when will I get to use the internet again, so you guys can expect sometimes before the next update, I apologize here for that. But no to fear, since you guys will get to see the next chapter soon...for now, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8**

The sound of Brennan taking shower woke Angela on Monday morning. She looked over to the digital clock. It was only 6:30. _Why is Brennan up so early? _Angela thought, and she turned to the other side of the bed, trying to block out the noise.

Soon enough, she heard Brennan getting out of the shower, going back to her bedroom to change, and in the kitchen making coffee. Angela tried her best, but she just couldn't go back to sleep. She sighed, and decided to get up.

After about 30 minutes of shower and changing clothes, Angela finally appeared in the kitchen, greeted by Brennan who was reading the newspaper and listening to the radio while drinking her coffee at the same time.

"Morning, Ange." Brennan greeted without looking up.

"Morning, sweetie. Why are you up this so early?" Angela asked, sitting down and taking a sip of the coffee that Brennan just poured.

"It's Monday, I need to work today." Brennan replied as a matter of fact.

Angela shook her head, "What? You're not going to work today."

Brennan frowned. She looked up from the newspaper and asked, "Why not?"

"Because the doctor from the ER said you're staying home for a few days? Remember? So you can rest a bit." Angela reminded her best friend.

"But I'm fine. I don't feel tired at all, so why waste a whole day staying at home? I want to go to work." Brennan argued.

"No Brennan." Angela was determined on this. "You're staying home for 3 days, just like the doctor said."

"Ange, you can't do this to me."

"Well, I can. I'm your best friend."

"This is not fair! This is outrageous. This is not even moral!"

But no matter how Brennan complained, Angela found a way to ignore it.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Hodgins parked his car in his usual spot, and killed the engine. He and Zack stepped out, started to walk toward to the lab, where they would spend their time to do their work till it was 5, or when there's nothing left for them to do.

"Where's Dr. Brennan's car?" Zack asked when he noticed the empty spot of Brennan's parking space.

Hodgins turned; indeed, the forensic anthropologist's parking space was empty. "Brennan's actually late? No way." Brennan's never late unless there's a good reason to.

Zack shrugged. "So, what am I going to do today?"

But his question was ignored. "We'll find out when we find Angela. Come on!" And Hodgins walked quickly toward the lab.

"Wait for me!"

Inside the lab, they found Angela outside Brennan's room, but nowhere the anthropologist was seen. Angela was trying to secure Brennan's door by adding another lock there.

"Morning Angela, whatcha doing?" Hodgins asked with curiosity. Why would Angela be locking Brennan's door?

"I'm just making sure there's no way Brennan can get into her office." Angela explained simply.

"But why?"

"Bren is staying home for a few days, or at least, I'm making her. I'm locking her door, just in case she tries to come in."

Hodgins nodded, understanding Angela's motive. This action reminded him of an earlier conversation with Angela about the forensic anthropologist.

"But what am I going to do?" Zack asked again. But once again, no one answered him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a total of 3 days before Brennan came back to work. She seemed to be happy about finally getting back to work, and Zack seemed to be happy also, meaning he had work to do; unlike the past few days, which he spent his time mainly racing beetles, taking care of his beetle, training his beetle, and helping Hodgins with some ridiculously long and boring tasks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Bren, let's go already! Everybody's gone!" Angela said, trying to make her best friend get out of her office. If there's an award for being the most extreme workaholic, Brennan was going to get that for sure. And it was only the first day that Brennan came back to work.

"Angela, it's a thousand year old Native American! I can't just let her stay overnight! I want to finish this."

"And _I_ want to go home. It's 8, I'm tired, and I want to relax!"

"Well, you can go first. I will catch a cab later. Or you can give my car keys back, which means I can drive and not bug you. Which also means that you get to go home, and relax. Which will keep both of us happy." Brennan suggested, not looking up from the table. The skeleton in front of her was far too fascinating for her to leave.

Unfortunately for Brennan, Angela was not giving up. She stayed, staring at Brennan.

Brennan sighed. Even without looking up, she could feel her best friend's eyes were on her. "Fine," she said, "I will be done within 30 minutes, all right?"

Angela shook her head, "No, 5 minutes only."

"15?"

"5." Angela repeated her answer.

"10?"

"5." Angela said firmly. "One more argument about it, we're leaving, whether you like it or not."

"Fine." Brennan replied; knowing Angela defeated her. She's going to make this 5-minute worth all of it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Living with Brennan was actually a tiring job, especially when the dear doctor thinks she's a caged bird. From Monday to Wednesday, Angela got an argument with Brennan about work; then on Thursday and Friday, Brennan woke up really early, trying to make Angela get her in before 7, which Angela refused. Then during night, Angela had a difficult time getting Brennan home. So, when it's finally Saturday, Angela was very glad about it, which means, no work, no Brennan waking up early.

But she was wrong, dead wrong.

Brennan's alarm went off exactly at 7:30. Angela, lying in the guest room, could hear how Brennan was in the bathroom for shower, and then in the kitchen making coffee and listen to the radio while reading newspaper.

_What did I do to deserve something like this? It's a Saturday morning, a weekend morning, which everybody sleeps in! So, why is Brennan up already? It's been an exhausting week, for God's Sake! _

Angela turned, trying to use her pillow to cover her ears, trying to fall asleep again. As soon as she seemed to be able to block the noise out, her eyes shut again, she heard someone knocking the door. She heard Brennan rush to the door and open it. And then…

"Booth! What're you doing here so early?" Brennan exclaimed. "And with a television? What're you doing here with a television?"

"Well, I just thought it's going to be a lovely decoration for your apartment." Booth replied sarcastically.

"You're not putting a television in my apartment."

"Yes I am."

"No, you're not."

"Watch me."

_That's it. I'm getting the hell outta here._ Angela thought. She got out of her bed, grabbed her purse, combed her hair, and opened the door. Near the door, she found Booth carrying the object in question, with Brennan facing him, both arguing.

"That's it, guys. I'm out of here. It's weekend! Don't you guys sleep or something? I'm going home and not getting out of my bed till Monday morning. So, goodbye and goodnight!" Angela snapped at the FBI agent and her best friend, and she left without another word.

Both Brennan and Booth took a moment to absorb what just happened, then resumed what they were doing before Angela interrupted them.

"You're not bringing it here!"

"Yes I am!"

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**Review please! Please?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: Thanks for those reviews and also azarathangel for beta-ing this. This is going to be the last update before I go travelling, I apologize for the inconvenience here. Maybe enough reviews will just make me update! Now enjoy!**

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**Chapter 9**

After awhile, Brennan and Booth finally reached truce. The television was placed in the living room.

"See, it's just that easy to let me put the television there." Booth said, grinning. In his mind, he won the argument this time.

Brennan rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the statement. She walked back to the table, reaching for her coffee.

"Anyway, why are you dressed so early? You going somewhere?" Booth asked, eyeing Brennan's outfit.

Brennan nodded. "I was going to ask Angela for a lift to the lab, but now that she's gone. Can you give me a ride?'

"Whoa, Bones. Didn't you forget about what we talked about last Sunday? No working during weekends." Booth reminded her.

"What? Then what am I suppose to do today? I want to finish my analysis on Jane Doe 564."

"Bones, you know, the weekend is for people to rest. So, why not sit back and enjoy it?"

"I don't see how I can sit back since I'm currently standing here. And I think the best way to enjoy the weekend is to work on my Jane Doe." Brennan replied. "I want to go to work."

"I'm not giving you a ride to work, Bones."

"Fine, I'll just call a cab then."

'Bones, you're not calling a cab either, because you're not going to work." Booth said firmly.

Brennan snapped, "You can't stop me from going to work."

"I got orders from Angela and her instructions were not to let you go to work on weekends. Gotta work with the authorities there."

"I can't believe this." Brennan said. "What am I going to do this whole weekend? It's 2 days, meaning 48 hours, 2880 minutes, 172800 seconds! What am I suppose to do?" Brennan questioned.

Booth was being surprised at Brennan knowing how many seconds is in 2 days, but being a squint, his best guest is that squints are good with this kind of stuff. "Well, you can do lots of things, like going shopping or movies or somewhere." Booth suggested.

Brennan leaned back in her chair in frustration, shaking her head. _When did life become so hard? _

Suddenly, Booth got an idea. "I know where we can go, go change to something causal and easy for you to move."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And this is your brilliant idea?" Brennan asked, looking at the skating rink before her, she just finished putting on the skates.

Booth nodded, and walked near the rink. He skilfully skated out of the rink without any trouble. He looked back, seeing Brennan approached the skating rink slowly. And then the next moment she was out in the ice, she fell, hard.

Booth skated immediately to Brennan. "You alright, Bones?" Booth asked worriedly.

Brennan trying to get up, but failed miserably. "Yes, I'm fine." She replied sarcastically.

Booth gave her a hand, and in no time, Brennan was up again, now holding the handle on the side of the rink as if clinging to it for her dear life.

"You ever skate before?" Booth asked, looking at Brennan.

"No." Brennan replied with a whisper.

Booth raised his eyebrows, surprised. But he decided to ask again, just to annoy Brennan. "You've never skated before?" He mocked in a serious tone.

"No." Brennan replied loudly, clearly a sign of annoyed.

Booth laughed. He never thought the forensic anthropologist, being good at almost everything, who had unimaginable intelligence, had never skated in her whole life.

"Thanks for the support, Booth. It's been really helpful to me." Brennan said sourly.

"Sorry Bones. I just didn't know that you've never skated before. Frankly, I'm a little surprised." Booth admitted. "So, ready to learn?"

"Huh?" The question caught Brennan off guarded.

"Ready to learn? And then I will give you a test to see what grade you get?"

Brennan took a deep breath, and nodded. "I had never gotten below an A."

Booth nodded, smiled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For an hour Brennan had learned, while Booth was instructing. For an hour Brennan had fallen so many times like a toddler, but Booth helped her to get up on her feet again and again. For an hour Brennan had learned how to fall, how to walk on the ice and how to skate. For an hour Booth had taught, corrected and helped Brennan to skate. For an hour, Brennan was holding Booth's hand tightly as Booth was guiding her out to the open ice. And for an hour, both of them were for the first time not thinking of the things that happened in that month, but focusing on the happiness that presented itself before their eyes.

They had finally stopped skating when the morning session ended, by which at that time, Brennan could already skate without falling. To Booth, it was pretty good for someone to learn this fast; but to Brennan, it just wasn't enough; it seemed to her that she should have been more skilful.

After grabbing a quick lunch from the cafeteria beside the skating rink, they quickly resumed skating till the afternoon session ended.

- - - - - - - - - - -

The weekend passed quickly, and soon Monday came. Brennan was of course the first one who woke up. At only 6 in the morning, she was ready for work already. She wanted to go to work early as she missed the chance of working during weekends. She was drinking coffee in the kitchen, trying to wait patiently for Booth to wake up. But it didn't work out as nicely as she thought it would be, since at about 6:30, she was already losing her patience, and found herself standing in front of the guest room. She knocked.

And a faint groan was a reply.

She decidedly to knock again, and after about 3 times, Booth finally managed to open the door. He looked like he was really pissed off by this early hours. "What?" He was able to speak this simple word, while trying to gain his conscious back using this few seconds of silence.

"I want to go to work, and I was just wondering when you'll be up and give me a ride." Brennan replied simply.

Booth turned to a clock, and read 6:40. He turned back to Brennan, and exploded. "What? You woke me up at 6:40 and asking me for a ride? How about going back to sleep for a while, Bones?"

"I want to go to work." Brennan repeated.

Booth groaned. _What had he gotten himself into?_ He wondered.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Angela got in the lab at about 9, not too early, not too late. She congratulated herself for it. She walked to her office, and dropped off her things before going to grab a cup of coffee before working. While on her way to the lounge, she found Brennan was already in her office, no surprise there, and working on the remains again.

"Morning sweetie!" Angela greeted her best friend, sounded much more energetic than she actually felt.

"Morning Angela." Brennan greeted the artist without looking up from the remains.

"So, how's your weekend?"

"Nothing special, except that Booth didn't let me come in to work during the weekend, which by the way is ridiculous." Brennan said through gritted teeth. She was still mad about the fact that Booth followed Angela's order on not letting her coming to work.

Angela felt no shame about it; she was actually surprise to find Booth able to make Brennan to stay home for the weekend. "What did you guys do then?"

The dear doctor replied in a monotone. "We went skating on Saturday and stayed home on Sunday, watching Mummy."

"WHAT!" Angela exclaimed. "Oh MY GOD! Brennan, oh my God!

"Angela, calm down. Nothing happened." Brennan finally looked up from the remains, looking at her best friend, who was acting as if Christmas had come early.

"Nothing happened? Brennan, it's just like a date. I mean, skating and a movie."

"So? It's just skating and a movie. It doesn't necessarily have to mean anything."

Angela shook her head, wondering when Brennan would finally realize the relationship she and Booth had. "It may not mean something to you, but it certainly meant something to Booth."

"He knows that I think that movie is unrealistic. It's impossible to read Egyptian from a book and raise the dead, especially when it comes to a mummy." Brennan reasoned. "And you can't possibly bring the ten plagues to Egypt just by bringing that mummy back to life. Nor can you suck lives out of people. Besides, Imhotep is believed to be the first architect, genius and physician known to the written history. Also…"

"Bren, can you just for once enjoy the movie, and not criticize it, analyze it, or tear it to pieces with logic?" Angela begged. One thing she didn't like to do with her friend was watch movies with her. Angela had learned that the hard way; she got stuck with Brennan in a movie theatre for over three hours.

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**Do you like it? Personally I like the skating part…but anyway, review please? Please! Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

**Author's Note: I know, isn't this exciting to see me actually updating? I'm so sorry that I didn't write anything for the last 5 months, I was so busy with schoolwork, and I still am. I got a couple of snow day this month, and finally have some free time, which is why I am updating. This chapter is not beta-ed, so be warned. As usual, I thank those who write reviews, and if anyone wants to help me beta stuff, just PM me!! Now, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 10**

Although Brennan was able to get herself out of talking with Angela about the weekend by distracting her best friend with the movie Mummy, also because Angela was being reminded by Dr. Goodman that her latest sketch was due that day; she was able to get back to work again, but she couldn't stop thinking about what Angela said.

"_It may not mean something to you, but it certainly mean something to Booth."_

Was it true though? Was what Angela said was true? That it actually mean something to Booth? Was it why Booth decides to help her? After all, she never really knew the true intention of why Booth wanted to help her.

As she kept working on the remains, Brennan's mind was not as focused as earlier.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Booth stepped into Brennan's office and said, "Time to go, Bones."

Brennan looked up, confused. She looked over to the clock that said 6:30. She was surprised, the last time she checked, it was only 12, when did time go so fast? She didn't notice how long she had been working; she had even skipped lunch, which was why her stomach was growling at this very moment. "Yeah, I'll just go and grab my bags."

"What?" The FBI agent was clearly in shock. "No argument there? Just 'yeah, let's go'? What happened to the Bones I know?"

"I'm hungry. I skipped lunch." The anthropologist said.

"And Angela wished me luck on dragging you home. It wasn't hard." Booth chuckled.

"Can I drive?"

"No." Booth sighed, and wondered when would the woman give up.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" Booth asked once he pulled away from the museum, with Brennan sitting next to him.

Brennan shrugged, indicating that she didn't care where they would go.

"How about going home? I'll cook." Booth suggested. He took a left turn.

Brennan gave him a slight nod, a bit surprised that Booth could cook.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sitting at the dinning table, Brennan observed the dishes before her. She always thought Booth was the type of people that couldn't cook, but for once, she was wrong. Chicken Caesar Salad and Lasagna for dinner.

"What're you waiting for? I thought you were starving." Booth had taken notice of Brennan, who just sat there, staring at the food.

Brennan nodded, and started to help herself with some salad. As her mind started to ease off on her work, it started to go back to the comment Angela left her earlier that day.

"_It may not mean something to you, but it certainly mean something to Booth."_

She looked at Booth, who was already eating the lasagna. He looked like he was ready to kill an elephant in order to fill his hunger. Brennan sighed, wondered. Did it really mean something to Booth? It was just skating and a movie.

"Why are you here, Booth?" Brennan heard herself asking, causing Booth to look up from the delicious lasagna.

"What do you mean?" Booth asked slowly, trying to figure out what Brennan was up to this time.

"I mean, why are you here? Why are you staying over? You could have just walk out. You could have just not say anything. Why are you here?" Brennan demanded, wanting to know the truth.

Booth stared at his roommate. "I want to stay and help you, Bones."

"But why? You're not my best friend, and we barely work together for now. So, why do you still care? Why do you want to stay?" Brennan cried.

"Because it's the right thing to do, Temperance. Yes, I may not be your best friend, nor do we work together as much as before; but, Temperance, you played an important role in my life when we worked together, and so do now. I want to help you the best I can."

"How about the weekend? Why did you bring me to skate and then stay home and watch Mummy?"

Booth pondered for awhile before he answered, "Why do you always have to analyze everything? Can't I just do something just because I feel like it?"

Brennan was about to open her mouth to argue, but Booth continued, "The first thing that came into my mind was skating on Saturday when you kept saying you want to go to work. I thought skating would be fun, and I hadn't skate for a while, that's why I bought you to skate. And on Sunday, we stayed home to watch the movie was because I didn't know what to do, and people usually stay home and watch movie when they have time. Plus, I thought you haven't watched a movie for at least a trillion years, that's why we watched the movie."

Now Brennan looked a bit troubled, "Booth, I shouldn't…" and cursing Angela in her mind.

"Shouldn't have questioned me?" Booth helped her to finish.

Brennan gave him a slight nod.

"No worries there, Bones. I'm pretty much used to it. Now, can we eat? I'm really really hungry now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that night, while Booth was lying on bed, his mind was on what Brennan said earlier during dinner.

This weekend had been enjoyable and fun. But what was the main reason? Was it because he missed doing these kinds of things? Or was it because he was with Brennan?

Why did he choose to stay over to help Brennan? Was it really because he wanted to help her? Or was it because he cared too much not to help her in general?

Why did he care too much about Brennan?

Booth turned to the other side of the bed.

He remembered when he found out Brennan got cancer, how frightened he felt. It was like the whole world just crushed before him, it was like it sucked his life out completely. He thought he would never be happy again. But why would he feel something like this? Was it because…

Booth shook his head, trying to clear his mind. There's no way he loved Brennan. Or was there?

He thought back on the things he did for Brennan. He checked himself out of the hospital when he realized Brennan got captured. He risked his career for Brennan because he removed the evidence from a scene. He flew over half the continent because Brennan called him and needed him for finding Angela's boyfriend.

Was it love?

If it's not, then why did he always feel the need to protect her? To keep her safe? To make her happy? To keep her away from sadness?

What should he do now? Booth wondered.

If this is the last thing he could do for Brennan, he would keep her safe and happy till cancer finally took over. He would do everything he could to ensure of this. Brennan didn't need to know he loved her, she just need to know he'll always be there for her, no matter what.

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**Review!!! REVIEW!!! Please?**

**The next update of the story...I honestly don't know when it will be, maybe sometimes in Easter, but summer for sure. Of course, enough reviews may just make me change my mind.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. **

**Author's Note: Hopefully none of you thought that I was dead, because I'm not! I had been so busy with all those schoolwork and standardized tests for the past few months (and if I don't get a good score on my ACT on Saturday, I'm blaming you guys). I should be able to update more once it's summer, but that really depends do I get a job this summer, we'll see. But for now, enjoy! (As usual, this chapter is not beta-ed, if you want it to be beta-ed, find someone volunteer to be my beta, then the chapter onwards will be beta-ed, because it's really hard to get a beta nowadays. So, I do apologize with those horrible grammers you are about to read)

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**Chapter 11**

A month of this living pattern with Brennan had passed. Angela and Booth had already got used to how Brennan would argue with them no matter what, they learnt how to put up, give in or argue back with Brennan. Even though after a month, Brennan never stop trying to argue her way out, but sadly, she often failed.

Sometimes, Brennan seemed to be happy, seemed to be enjoying her life; but when she's alone, she seemed to be grimed, sad, frustrated, agitated. Though Angela seemed not to have taken notice of it, Booth had. Sometimes when Brennan was in the bathroom, Booth could hear some sobs coming from there, it pained Booth to hear it, it hurt Booth that there's nothing he could do to stop Brennan from crying.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Welcome to the annual anthropology meeting. Let me introduce myself, I'm Dr. Andy Collins. On my left hand-side, Dr. Temperance Brennan, Dr. Tony McArthur, Dr. Anna Wilson, Dr. John Matthews, Dr. Daniel Lee, and Dr. Edith Helton." Collins introduced as everybody finally sat down for the annual meeting in the convention center.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Where's Dr. Brennan?" Zack asked when he saw Brennan's office was closed, and with no sign of Brennan either.

Angela replied, "She's at that convention thing."

Zack sighed, wondered what he was going to do for the day. He didn't want to help Hodgins again; maybe he would help Angela, if the artist would let him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Certainly you can't agree with him, Dr. Brennan?" Dr. Matthews asked, a bit pissed that his other colleagues were not accepting his point.

"Well, I can understand what Dr. Lee said. I once had a similar case like that, so I do think it's fair for me to judge on it." Brennan explained.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Booth? I'm surprised to hear from you, what's up?" Angela asked.

Through the phone, she heard Booth asked, "How's Bones going to get home tonight? Am I going back to the convention place to get her, or what?"

"No. Booth, I'm giving her a ride to the Jeffersonian, so you just come here at about 6 to pick her up." Angela instructed.

"Okay. Thanks Angela."

"You welcome."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At about 6, Booth entered the Jeffersionian forensic lab, where most of the squints were still there, working. For instance, Hodgins was paying his fullest attention to that soil sample he got, constantly looking the sample under the microscope, and trying to identify its composition. Angela was nowhere to be found, so Booth assumed she was on her way to pick up Brennan. Zack was in one of those platform, working on some bones, probably came from the "limbo"; with Zack's intelligence, getting his PhD was not hard at all, but why the boy hadn't got it, Booth had no clue.

Booth picked an empty seat, waiting for Angela and Brennan to show up. But instead, his cell chirped. Booth sighed, hoping it was not coming from his boss, Cullen. He already had a hard day with a hard case, which he had been working on for the past few weeks, and nowhere near closing; his main suspect was missing. He flipped open his cell phone and answered.

"Hey, it's Angela. Are you in the lab right now?" Angela asked quickly.

"Yep."

"Is Brennan there?"

Booth shook his head, though he knew Angela would not be able to see it. "No, why?"

"I can't find Brennan in the convention center." Angela replied, sounded worried.

"She's probably in the bathroom or something like that." Booth suggested.

"No, Booth. I had been here for 15 minutes; the meetings had long been over. I checked the bathroom and she wasn't there. She was nowhere in this convention center, Booth."

"But how about her cell? Did you call her?" Booth asked, trying to be reasonable.

"Yes, but either she wouldn't answer, or she forgot to turn her cell phone on." Angela said. Booth could tell she was feeling helpless.

Booth bite his lip; trying to think of the best solution.

"Booth, what if it's like the last time? What if she fainted just like the last time? Oh, God. I don't know what to do. What if…"

The FBI agent stopped her. "Angela, don't assume what happened. Just concentrate on what should we do in order to find Bones."

He heard Angela took a deep breath in order to calm down. "How about you go home and wait for me or Bren; while I go search for her?"

"Don't you think I should be the one doing the searching?" Booth asked.

"Booth, no offense, but I know Brennan better and therefore would know where she would likely be going. So, you go back to the apartment, keep calling her to see if she pick up or not. I'll call you as soon as I got something, okay?"

"Yeah." Booth replied, and cut off the conversation. He walked quickly out of the lab and into his SUV.

_Where is Temperance?_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Dr. Brennan. I'm glad that you accepted my invitation to have dinner with me." Dr. Collins said, raising his glass, smiling.

Brennan returned the smile.

"So, how do you think of this dinner? I heard it's one of the best restaurant around DC."

"It certainly is, and it's the first time I have been here, Dr. Collins."

"Call me Andy, please."

"Of course."

"Mind if I call you Tempe?" Collins asked.

"Not at all."

Brennan gave the man another smile. Dr. Andy Collins surely was a man with charm and intelligence. In Brennan's work, she seldom met people got both talents, except maybe Booth. Booth may not have a Ph D, but he surely was smart, and charms? He certainly got it too. But she and Booth, it's just not going to happen, they were just friends, that's all, right?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Where is Brennan?_ Angela asked herself. _Where does Brennan usually go when she's alone?_

Angela had asked the receptionist back in the convention center for some clues, but the receptionist had failed to notice anything or Brennan for that matter. So, Angela had searched almost everywhere Brennan loved to go in order to find her best friend. But so far, the plan was not working. She's currently walking around the bookstore to see if Brennan's there.

What if- Angela shook her head, trying to get her mind off what if she couldn't find Brennan. _Brennan's just going to be all right when I find her_. She kept repeating this to herself, trying to make herself believe it, but she wished she could. One side of her was trying to believe it, while the other side was thinking the worst. Was she being paranoid or what? Angela couldn't understand herself right now.

No sign of Brennan in the bookstore. Angela noted. She sighed to herself, and retreated to her car, continue her search for her best friend.

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**What's going to happen next? Will Angela crashed into Brennan's date with Andy? What will Booth do once he knows about the date? How will Brennan react? How will the 4 of them go from here? Stay tuned for the next chapter, and please review! Review is like my only motivation on finishing the story, I really want to know what you guys think about it!**


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